By Radartest StaffLast Updated: 2018

When it was introduced in 2007 the Escort Passport 9500ix was the first GPS-enabled model. Satellite technology allowed the detector to warn of red light cameras and lock out static sources of false alarms like automatic door openers.

Escort has replaced the 9500ix with two models higher in performance and with more features. The Passport iX ($399) now is the entry-level Escort with an equivalent feature set.

Also on offer is the Passport Max 360c ($649), a dual-antenna model with arrows that point toward a threat. (The latter's forebear, the Max 360, saw a price drop recently that signals it's nearing the end of its production run.)

Controls and Features

The top-mounted controls of the Escort Passport 9500ix are backlit, making them easy to find at night. On the side of the case a USB port allows updates of the Defender red light camera database.

Escorts can automatically lock out nuisance radar signals with the AutoLearn feature. Drive three times past the local Walmart door openers, for example, and the detector remembers not to alert the next time you drive past.

Users looking to speed up the process can do this manually. During an alert a double-tap of the Mark button adds a nuisance signal to the database. When the Escort is not alerting, pressing the button adds a location to the database, along with a choice of four types of location tags to later identify the type of threat.

Ka-band range (blue and red bars) is the most important. Nearly every highway patrol uses this radar frequency.

In contrast, to avoid patent infringement competing models require the user to lock out these signals manually. Automating the task may be convenient, but it's not free—the least expensive model from patent-holder Escort costs considerably more than, for example, the equivalent Radenso.

Performance

Considering its age, the 9500ix turned in reasonably good performance against X-band radar. But it lagged well behind the competition on the critical Ka band favored by state troopers.

Once the flagship Escort model, the Passport 9500ix has clearly been surpassed in performance by more recent designs, particularly some newcomers from Radenso.